Live by the kids? Risky Investment.

[BUM]

We have learned that you cannot plan around your kids, Lord knows where they will move,a nd wives become Ex- Wives and Grand kids get relocated.

I think you've nailed it Howard. Others have had very interesting responses. If your family and extended family have set down deep roots in the community or have made commitments to each other then I believe that keeping close to the family could work out.

However, as in my case, if your adult children are likely to faced with job related relocation then keeping that house for the sake of the kids could be a costly and disappointing miscalculation.

 

[SteveR]

Talk about a change of command ceremony.  I guess the Navy band playing "Anchors Aweigh" would have been overkill.

P.S.  For those of you curious about Anchors Aweigh, here's a link to the Navy page with a bit of history.
http://www.navy.mil/palib/traditions/music/anchor1.html

Thanks Jay, I do enjoy learning new stuff and military history is one of them; especially Civil War stuff since I lived in the middle of it for many years down South.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Thanks Jay, I do enjoy learning new stuff and military history is one of them; especially Civil War stuff since I lived in the middle of it for many years down South. 

Well then, you are a lot older than I thought.

JG

 

[Nords]

Being a parent is the price you pay for being someone else's kid.

Ouch-- great quote! I think I'll call my father and apologize (again).

I would not want to live closer than two hours from parents. The older they get the more testy they can become and guess who they will want to "share" this with?

I can vouch that 15 minutes is too close.

She better like winter and wide open spaces if she want to live in Wyoming. 20 acres would be a garden plot there. It has the lowest population density of any other state and can really make one feel isolated.

I think that the people who appreciate Hawaii the least are the ones who are raised here. I'm pretty sure her attitude will change by the middle of her first Wyoming winter (e.g., late August). But nooooooooooo, she won't listen to me, she has to find out for herself. I think I owe my father another apology.

You can bet the farm on that one. Especially once she starts creating grandkids for you.

We've told her plenty of stories about how she was for the first 10 years. I'll continue to share those heartwarming tales with every one of her boyfriends if necessary. But nooooooooooooo...

Talk about a change of command ceremony.

It was more of a "high five" as he raced across the brow.  Not that I ever did anything like that...

Thanks Jay, I do enjoy learning new stuff and military history is one of them; especially Civil War stuff since I lived in the middle of it for many years down South. 

I've been to several Civil War Roundtable meetings here.  Daniel Martinez (of Discovery's "Undiscovered History" series, including the one on Gettysburg) is the director of the Arizona Memorial.  Always a great presentation.

 

[Michael Moore]

If your family and extended family have set down deep roots in the community or have made commitments to each other then I believe that keeping close to the family could work out.

However, as in my case, if your adult children are likely to faced with job related relocation then keeping that house for the sake of the kids could be a costly and disappointing miscalculation.

Live where you want to live.  When I left home after graduating from university I went to Houston (for training) then to Northern Louisiana, then escaped (at my moving expense) with a transfer to Los Angeles, and after a year and a half followed my sweetheart to her (4th generation) hometown of San Francisco with a lateral job change.  Should my mother (in Albuquerque) and father (in Las Vegas) have dropped everything in their lives to follow me around the country?

Moving somewhere because someone you don't live with is also there may leave you holding a fairly empty bag if that other household has some reason to pull up stakes and move (say, to be closer to the ailing in-law parents?).

It may sound cold, but you've got to live for yourself first.  I've seen a number of parents/children/siblings that have not followed the plans that others laid down for them.  If you need to visit, shucks, you're retired, drive and inflict gift them with your presence for an extended stay. 

The way my older and younger (and same aged) relatives/friends have been kicking the bucket recently, there's obviously no assurance that anyone will stick around once you make the move to be near them.

It seems like Nords' admonition to be responsible for your own entertainment should apply to this situation.  Live for your self.  Living for someone else (especially a relative that you may see once every 2-4 weeks - do your kids REALLY want you barging in the front door on a daily basis?) may be a poor choice.

cheers,
Michael

 

[SteveR]

Well then, you are a lot older than I thought. 

JG

My kids would agree with you.

I spent a lot of hours hiking over many battlefields in the area I grew up and the war was an ever present thing there with all the historical markers, cannons, and monuments. My dad is buried in military cemetary that was started during the Civil war in that area. While I may not have "lived" during that era, I lived in the aftermath for many years.

I even had to help a buddy free is '57 Chevy's bumper from a Civil war cannon after parking touring a battlefield park while having a meaningful historic discussion with the two young women we were escorting that evening.